A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 13 studies. Eleven studies compared a tissue adhesive with standard wound closure. No significant difference was found for cosmesis at any of the time points examined, using either Cosmetic Visual Analogue Scale (CVAS) or Wound Evaluation Score (WES). Data were only available for subgroup analysis for age; no significant differences were found. Pain scores (Parent VAS WMD -13.4 mm; 95% CI -20.0 to -6.9) and procedure time (WMD -4.7 minutes; 95% CI -7.2 to -2.1 significantly favoured tissue adhesives. Only one study reported on ease of use, favouring standard wound closure. Small but statistically significant risk differences were found for dehiscence (favouring standard wound care NNH 40 95% CI 20 to 1168) and erythema (favouring tissue adhesive NNH 10 95% CI 5 to 239). Other complications were not significantly different between treatment groups.
Date of last search: 2007-09-30
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